Marvel Rivals is gearing up for a major mid-season shakeup. NetEase Games and Marvel Games have confirmed that Season 3.5 launches August 8, introducing two heavyweight heroes—Blade and Phoenix—alongside a fresh battleground and a slate of gameplay changes aimed at keeping the roster’s meta in motion.

### Two New Heroes: Blade and Phoenix
Blade joins the lineup as a close-quarters menace built around sustained aggression, positioning him as a new option for players who want to brawl and pressure targets at point-blank range. Phoenix arrives with a more cosmic toolkit, leaning into fiery, high-impact powers that should appeal to players who like volatile momentum swings and big play potential. Their addition expands Marvel Rivals’ already crowded hero pool and gives team comps two new identities to build around.

### A New Map and More Team-Up Combos
Season 3.5 also adds a new map set on Klyntar, tying the update to Marvel’s symbiote lore. NetEase is pairing that with additional team-up abilities—Marvel Rivals’ signature combo system—giving squads more ways to layer synergies and punish mistakes. Expect the new team-ups to reshape preferred pairings quickly, especially in coordinated play.

### Balance Changes and Competitive Impact
Alongside the content drop, the update includes balance adjustments designed to smooth out outliers and recalibrate power across the roster. That’s particularly important for a hero shooter where new characters can easily warp pick rates and strategy; the mid-season timing suggests NetEase wants a quicker feedback loop rather than waiting for a full season reset.

The bigger takeaway is momentum: Marvel Rivals is moving fast, and Season 3.5 reads like a deliberate attempt to keep players rotating heroes, experimenting with new combos, and staying engaged between major season launches. If Blade and Phoenix land as strongly as their names imply, the competitive landscape could look meaningfully different by the end of August.

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